Washington Street Property Could Sell, Paving Way for Affordable Housing Project

By STAN FENDLEY
Falls Church Times Staff

January 29, 2010

An existing roadblock to “The Wilden” affordable housing project on South Washington Street could fall away through a change of ownership of property adjacent to The Wilden site, according to information communicated to City officials today.

In a memorandum written today, Assistant City Manager Cindy Mester informed the Falls Church City Council and Planning Commission that McLean-based Jefferson One, owned by “Flower Building” developer Bob Young, is in final negotiations to purchase property at 360 South Washington Street, next to The Wilden’s 350 South Washington Street location.  According to Mester, Young has stated a willingness to work with The Wilden partners on a consolidated site plan.  Young’s cooperation could remove existing barriers to the project that exist because of current owner Thomas Sawner’s unhappiness with effect of The Wilden’s design on his property.

At a recent City Council-Planning Commission joint session, Sawner told City officials that the plan for The Wilden would be unfavorable to his property, making his property an “orphan.”   Sawner has leverage in the matter, however, because of easements he holds which would be violated by the current design of The Wilden.  Failure to resolve the easement matter to Sawner’s satisfaction would likely make it impossible for The Wilden to proceed to construction.   (Video of Sawner’s statement, and the preceding debate between Mayor Robin Gardner and Planning Commission Chairman John Lawrence over whether to let Sawner speak, is available here.)

Young’s pledge to develop a plan jointly with The Wilden partners presumably would remove this barrier.    According to Mester’s memo, Young would develop a “by-right” commercial building with structured parking.  No diagrams or drawings of the joint site plan are publicly available at this time.

Partners in The Wilden are the Falls Church Housing Corporation (“FCHC”) and Boston-based The Community Builders.  The project, previously known as City Center South Senior Apartments, was renamed after long-time City resident Bob Wilden, who died last year.

Because of the possible ownership change at 360 South Washington Street, The Wilden partners have asked the City Council and Planning Commission to postpone further consideration of the project until mid-March.  In a Jan. 28 memorandum to City officials, Falls Church Housing Corporation executive director Carol Jackson notes on the basis of “some early draft concept work” with Young, The Wilden partners “are requesting a short delay in the timeline currently in place to ensure that we deliver critical outcomes” outlined by the City.

Currently, the City Council has scheduled a Feb. 22 vote on “second reading” of a Special Exception ordinance to allow The Wilden to proceed, but Jackson asked that the vote be moved to Mar. 22.  Similarly Jackson requested the city Planning Commission to defer until Mar. 15 two meetings on the project, now planned for Feb. 1 and 16.

The Wilden represents Falls Church Housing Corporation’s third attempt in recent years to construct an affordable housing project in the City.  Previous efforts focused on a location at the west end of the City and a second off North Washington Street near the State Theater.  The planned “City Center” project provided momentum for a third effort aimed at consolidating 350, 360 and 370 South Washington Street.  To support that 174-unit effort, the City Council approved a $2 million interest-free loan to FCHC as a “purchase option” on Sawner’s property.  Other financing for the project failed, however, and as a result FCHC never exercised the purchase option, resulting in Sawner’s requirement to repay $1.9 million to the City and FCHC’s requirement to repay the remaining $100,000.

Last summer, the State of Virginia granted FCHC federal low-income housing tax credits for the current 66-unit project, now known as The Wilden.  Whereas the earlier project would have housed both senior citizens and families, The Wilden is intended only for seniors.  FCHC is again requesting a $2 million City loan to support the project, although it is significantly smaller than the previous iteration.

City officials have been actively attempting to resolve the impasse with Sawner for weeks.  Earlier this month,  City Council members and other officials met with Sawner in an early morning session following the Council’s preliminary approval of The Wilden, but walked away with no resolution at that time.  Young’s involvement offers a potential roadmap to construction.  The path may not be easy, however, because as Jackson states in her memo, postponing City Council and Planning Commission consideration is “potentially risking the VHDA imposed June 30 construction start deadline which continues to be the end date driving The Wilden’s pre-construction deadline.”

The Wilden’s full timeline is available in Jackson’s memo.   Detailed information on the project is provided in a lengthy City staff background memo.

CITY MEETINGS: February 1 – 6

Monday 2/1: City Council Work Session.  Training Center – G Level, 7:30 pm.  Agenda and documents.  Planning Commission will participate in discussion of first agenda item.

Planning Commission.  Council Chamber, 8:00 pm.  Agenda and documents.

Tuesday 2/2: Office of the Electoral Board.  Administrative Conference Room, 11:00 am.

Economic Development Authority.  Training Center – G Level, 6:30 pm.  Agenda.

Recreation and Parks Advisory Board.  Falls Church Community Center,  7:00 pm.  Agenda.

Wednesday 2/3: Architectural Advisory Board.  CANCELLED.

Thursday 2/4: Long Range Financial Working Group.  Administrative Conference R0om, 7:00 pm.

Friday 2/5: No meetings scheduled.

Saturday 2/6: School Board Work Session on Budget.  Central Office, 800 West Broad Street, Suite 203, 8:30 am.

Meeting notices are obtained from the City and School Board on-line calendars and from the notice board at the east entrance of City Hall.  Meetings may be subject to re-scheduling or cancellation.

TUESDAY 2/2: GMHS Haiti Fundraiser at Pie-Tanza

George Mason High School and Pie-Tanza are sponsoring a Haiti relief effort on Tuesday, Feb. 2.  Twenty per cent of all sales that day at Pie-Tanza will be donated to the George Mason High School Haiti Relief Fund.

Pie-Tanza is located in the Falls Plaza Shopping Center, 1216 W. Broad Street in Falls Church City.  Phone: (703) 237-0977.

FOOD: An Ethiopian Extravaganza at Meaza

By JIMMY SCARANO
Falls Church Times Staff

January 29, 2010

After a few ho-hum experiences with Ethiopian food in high school I was ready to swear off the cuisine forever.  Even though Washington D.C. — especially the “Little Ethiopia” neighborhood at 9^th and U streets– reputedly has the best Ethiopian dining scene in the country, I couldn’t bring myself to shell out cash for what I perceived to be nothing more than mushy vegetables and cold, sour, spongy bread.

Then I went to Virginia Tech and everything changed.

My four years in Blacksburg, Virginia, were, for the most part, unbearable when it came to eating out.   Most places were generic sports bars or pathetic attempts at Chinese, Thai, or Mexican food.  One day, out of sheer desperation for something “ethnic” I tried a hole-in-the-wall, one-woman take-out Ethiopian joint called Excellent Table, which had been open a few months and seen little business.

Given what I thought of Ethiopian food and what the standards were for restaurants in Blacksburg my expectations were unbelievably low.  But I was shocked at the freshness of the food, the spicy complexity of the lentils and meat stews, and even the injera, the ubiquitous flatbread that I’d only had cold and sour could apparently be pleasantly tangy and earthy when made right.  I went back several times, gaining more respect and admiration for Ethiopian cooking each visit.

Now back in Northern Virginia I’ve gotten away from Ethiopian food a bit.  I’ve neglected the cuisine in favor of so many others that I can’t get enough of.  I’ve been pulled away by the Eden Center and great Thai, Chinese, and Middle Eastern restaurants in the region.  I’ve been on Indian kicks and Lebanese kicks and Persian kicks.  And that’s a loss for me, because Ethiopian food is soulful and unique.

So this week I finally got off my rump and hit up Meaza Restaurant, one of a few Ethiopian restaurants within a reasonable grasp of the City of Falls Church.  The gargantuan, tastefully decorated eatery (supposedly the biggest Ethiopian restaurant in the United States) straddles the border between Falls Church and Arlington and has garnered rave reviews by every major news outlet.  Meaza is widely recognized as the best Ethiopian restaurant outside of Washington D.C. proper.  Many food writers even consider it to be better than the innumerable Ethiopian award-winners in the District.

After one visit all I can say is that I will be back.  Though it was just a single meal, my dining companion and I ordered a variety of dishes, easily enough to feed four people.  Essentially, I crammed two trips to the restaurant into one lunch.

Let’s get the bad stuff out of the way first, because there wasn’t much of it.  In fact, the only thing we got that I wouldn’t order again were the sambusas, Ethiopia’s off-shoot of the fried Indian turnovers called samosas.  They were oily, heavy, tepid, and bland, and a horrible waste of calories to start your meal with.  Also, I suppose the service wasn’t fantastic.  I’ve read many complaints in reviews and online about slow servers, unfilled water glasses, and missed orders.  Nothing on my visit was too egregious, but there was some difficulty in placing the order because of the language barrier and the waitress was a tad pushy.  If you go in expecting so-so service you’ll probably leave happy.

Food-wise, everything we got after the sambusas was either good or excellent.  And all of it was greatly aided by the first-rate injera that Meaza makes on-site.  The starchy staple of choice in Ethiopia, injera is a thin-as-a-pancake, fermented flatbread traditionally made from teff, an ancient grain that resembles millet.  Most every Ethiopian dish is served atop of a piece of injera, which soaks up sauces and gravies beautifully.  Additional injera is used to pick up whatever is on the plate, including the well-drenched injera.  No utensils necessary.

Teff is expensive to get in the states (though it is grown in the Midwest now); so many Ethiopian cooks use part teff and part wheat flour to make their bread.  Meaza makes both an all-teff injera and a half-and-half one, but you’ve got to ask for the all-teff to get it and pay an extra dollar.  We opted to have our meal served on the half-and-half but got all-teff on the side for scooping.  The “pure” bread was noticeably darker in color, and, to my taste, a little bit less sour and more pleasant to eat.  For a measly buck, I’d splurge for the traditional stuff.

The dish I’d be most inclined to order again—and, actually, the one I would order every single time if I were with a big group—is the #7 special vegetarian combination meal.  Ethiopian’s treat vegetables and legumes in a delicious manner, gussying them up with chilies, ginger, onions, and berbere, an indispensable spice mixture with a laundry list of ingredients.

I won’t recount every dish on our platter, which included eight dollops of veggies and lentils, but there were a few that really spoke to me.  The mesir wat, an earthy, rich, brick-red mass of lentils, was excellent.  Wat means stew in Ethiopian and pretty much any dish involving the word is chockfull of spice and seasoning, thickened with cooked-to-death onions, and uncommonly delicious.  The jalapeno and ginger-studded collard greens, called gomen, were another standout.  They were tender but not mushy and the perfect foil for the injera.  They were also strikingly similar to the greens I’d had in Blacksburg, which gave them some bonus nostalgic points.

But the best part of the special veggie combo was one of the elements that separates it from the standard veggie combo; a salad of injera and tomato known as timatim fitfit.  I’d never had the dish before but went gaga over it after one bite.  It’s nothing more than leftover shards of injera with tomatoes, onions, and a light lemon dressing.  Yet it is so refreshing and bright, and such a great counter to the heavier stews and meat dishes.  Having tried it, I don’t see how anyone can justify getting the regular veggie combo.

To test out the meat options, we opted for the doro wat, a richly spiced chicken stew served with hard boiled eggs that is the nation’s national dish, and the lamb tibs with awaze sauce.  Both were spooned onto our communal platter of injera, which housed all the veggies from the sampler on the perimeter.

Doro wat was often on the menu at Excellent Table in Blacksburg, so I’m quite familiar with the dish.  Meaza’s rendition was spot-on but its flavor profile overlapped too much with the mesir wat.  But that was my fault because I ordered both.  Also, I had forgotten that the dish is usually served with one scrawny piece of chicken and is mostly about the sauce, so don’t expect a plate full of chicken if you order it.

I’d never had lamb tibs or anything prepared with awaze sauce before, so it was a thrill to try both in one dish.  Tibs are a quick-cooked Ethiopian specialty, usually consisting of stir-fried pieces of beef or lamb teeming with jalapenos, onions, and garlic.  They can be eaten as is or embellished with a marinade in awaze sauce, which typically includes red wine or Ethiopian honey wine and all kinds of spices.  Our tibs could have been a tad tenderer but were still perfectly delicious—spicy, assertive, and fun to pick up with the injera.

There’s still plenty on the menu I’d like to try, including the kitfo, a famously spicy minced raw beef preparation, and any number of lamb and beef tibs variations.  If my meal is any indication most of it will be pretty darn tasty.  This is the sort of place where you should feel comfortable exploring much of the menu.  Someone in the kitchen really cares about what they are putting out.

Meaza’s also a good bargain.  The portions are generous and, considering the quality, well-priced.  You could get out at 15 to 20 bucks a person for dinner no problem.

So the only real hurdle for a City of Falls Church resident is getting there.  But if you’re an adventurous diner with a pension for spicy foods, I think a ten or fifteen minute trek isn’t too much to ask.

Meaza Restaurant is located at 5700 Columbia Pike, Falls Church, Virginia, 22941. (Click for map.) 703-820-2870.

CITY FOCUS: Parking Fine Waiver; Tax Help; Nominate Memorial Day Grand Marshall, City Employee of Year

Click to read the January 28-February 3 CITY FOCUS, prepared by the City of Falls Church.

SCHOOLS FOCUS: Mason Scholastic Bowl Perfect Season; Autistic Success Story

Click to read the January 28-February 3 SCHOOLS FOCUS prepared by Falls Church City Public Schools.

Also, click here to read the George Mason High School Lasso story about graduate John Paul Bray, who was the subject of a recent BBC report.

Soccer Team Wins World Cup Promotion, South Africa Trip

By CHRISTINE KILGORE AND MINA NOWROOZI
Special to the Falls Church Times

This past soccer season was a season unlike any other for a group of Falls Church-area girls—one in which teamwork took on almost unimaginable meaning.

The girls of Premier AC’s 97 Fusion, a U-12 travel soccer team, not only played soccer — they spent hours each week after soccer practices learning the “Diski” dance — a special dance created for the FIFA 2010 World Cup to be held this summer in South Africa. The dance captures both the culture of South Africa and the moves and rhythm of the game.

Their filmed interpretation of the “Diski” won them 1^st place in a Diski Dancing video competition sponsored by South African Tourism –and an 8-day tour of the World Cup’s host nation. The 14 girls will take their trip in late March.

“At the beginning I thought, ‘we won’t win,’ said 11-year-old Rebecca Davis of Falls Church City. The dance moves also “seemed a bit odd at first,” she said. “But as we practiced we got to the point we could even do it without the music.”

When she learned through a text message that her team had won, she screamed. “I then called a teammate,” Davis recalled, “and my teammate was so happy she started crying.”

Stacey King, the team’s coach, learned of the competition in mid-October while perusing the U.S. Youth Soccer Association web site. The contest criteria (to submit about one minute of video, for instance, and to use a specific soundtrack) were simple, and the challenge of working creatively with the dance’s five main moves was enticing.

King’s mind raced.  She envisioned ways of tying together the dance moves to simulate the flow of an international soccer game.  She solicited initial reaction from the girls and their families by email, and then called the team to the Falls Church Community Center to present her ideas in detail.

Together, she and the girls and their parents watched a brief South African video demonstration of the Diski’s five main dance moves, and discussed the hours of teamwork and energy that would be required if they were to stand a chance of winning the competition.

The girls and their families promised their commitment and gave King input about moves and scenes to include and not include in the video.

From then on, through early December, the team practiced for two hours every week, immediately after their team training sessions.  They also practiced for several hours between the games of a fall tournament, in a nearby gym that a parent had arranged to use.

And when it came time to film, they met four times in various locations, including during the snowfall on December 5 and in Washington, D.C., in front of the Lincoln Memorial and in the shadows of the Washington Monument.

“Everybody made it work,” said King. “The parents helped with arranging locations to practice, with filming and editing and other ideas, and with grabbing coats and supplies, and the girls never complained — they were always excited.

“It was a complete and total team effort,” she said.

Evelyn Loeb, Rebecca’s mother and the parent manager of the team, said the girls were so committed to the project that when King came down with the flu before one of the last scheduled soccer/Diski dance practices, “the girls carried it through on their own, directing and going through everything themselves.”

The team’s goal, said King, was for the progression of scenes in the video to represent “the flow and feel” of an international soccer game.

“And I wanted to make sure we represented the feel and culture of South Africa as best we could,” she said.

Viewers hear the South African national anthem at the beginning and see a team photo mimicking the typical “starting 11” photo taken at major games as well as a kick-off.  One scene simulates the often underappreciated role of the goalkeeper, King notes, and almost everything in the dance is done as if each girl has or is about to make contact with a ball.

The video includes a photo of a red “vuvuzela,” a stadium horn commonly blown by fans at South African matches, and shots of the girls sporting the colors of the South African national team (as well as the pattern of the South African flag on their faces). Read more

Crime Report for January 19–25

By Falls Church City Police

Drunkenness, 600 blk. Park Ave., January 20, 11:47 a.m.  Police arrested a 43 year old man of no fixed address, for DIP.

Burglary, Commercial, New Moon, 6619 Wilson Blvd.  Unknown person(s) broke the front glass door to gain entry into the establishment and stole an undisclosed amount of cash and a Toshiba television.  Incident to the case, the safe and juke box were damaged.

Tampering with Auto, 100 blk. W Greenway Blvd., January 21, 11:16 a.m.  Unknown person(s) removed the left fog light from a vehicle.

Larceny from Vehicle, 200 blk. N Washington St., January 25, 2:30 p.m.  Police arrested a 42 year old Arlington woman for stealing a Blackberry cell phone.

Larceny, Purse Snatching, Giant Food, 1230 W Broad St., January 21, 4:58 p.m.  Unknown person(s) stole victim’s wallet out of the purse.  The wallet contained a VA driver’s license, social security card and (3) bank/credit cards.

Larceny from Vehicle, Giant Food, 1230 W Broad St., January 21, 8:30 p.m.  Unknown person(s) smashed the front passenger side window of a vehicle and stole a red and blue Estee Lauder tote bag containing an umbrella, medicine, a planner and makeup.

Larceny from Vehicle, 900 blk. W Broad St., January 21, between 5:15 p.m. and 9:20 p.m. Unknown person(s) smashed the rear driver’s side window of a vehicle and stole a black Kate Spade purse containing credit cards, driver’s license, government ID cards, and cash.

Larceny from Vehicle, George Mason High School, 7124 Leesburg Pike, January 21, 9:54 p.m.  Unknown person(s) shattered the window of a vehicle and stole a Canon Camera.

Larceny, Shoplifting, CVS, 1150 W Broad St., January 21, 10:27 p.m.  Unknown person(s) entered the establishment and stole an undisclosed amount of items.  Suspect #1…W/M, possibly early 20`s, possibly Hispanic, approximately 5`8″, stocky build, wearing what appeared to be aqua, white and dark blue plaid shirt, jeans, black shoes, black ball cap with a design on the front and carrying a dark colored jacket.  Suspect #2…W/M, possibly early 20`s, approximately 6`2″, thin, wearing a black 3/4 length winter coat, dark jeans and a grey stocking cap.  Suspect #3…B/M, possibly late 20`s early 30`s, approximately 5`9″-6″, thin build, wearing a dark colored winter vest, grey hooded sweat shirt with the hood up, a dark colored stocking cap with a white stripe around it, dark possibly black jeans and black shoes.  Suspect #4…B/M, possibly early 20`s, approximately 5`5″-5`9″, medium build, wearing a bright cherry red stocking cap, dark jeans, white sneakers and a dark shirt with bright yellow letters saying “JUST DO IT” on the front.  Suspect #5…W/F, possibly early 20`s, approximately 5`3″-5`5″. heavy set, dark hair, wearing dark colored coat, grey shirt, some kind of light colored belt around waist, light colored hair band and a dark colored shoulder bag.

Larceny from Vehicle, George Mason High School, 7124 Leesburg Pike, January 21, 11:26 p.m.  Unknown person(s) smashed the right front passenger’s side window of a vehicle and stole a purse containing a driver’s license and other personal documents.

Driving under the Influence, 300 blk. Hillwood Ave., January 23, 12:50 a.m., police arrested a 33 year old Alexandria man for DUI.

Driving under the Influence, 6400 blk. Arlington Blvd., January 23, 12:56 a.m.  Police arrested 30 year old Springfield man for DUI.

Destruction of Property, 200 blk. W Rosemary Ln., January 23, between 9:00 a.m. and 10:45 a.m.  Unknown person(s) damaged the sunroof area of a vehicle by walking on top of it.

Assault, Aggravated, 900 blk. Ellison St., January 23, 11:47 p.m.  Police arrested a 33 year old Falls Church man for Malicious Wounding.  Incident to the case, the victim was transported to Fairfax Hospital for treatment.

Larceny, Shoplifting, CVS, 134 W Broad St., January 24, 4:58 p.m.  Unknown person(s) entered the establishment and attempted to steal $902.74 worth of items.

Burglary, Commercial, Carinas, 400 S Washington St., January 25, 12:28 a.m.  Unknown person(s) broke the rear window of the door to gain entry into the establishment and stole a cash register containing $250.00, bottles of cologne and pieces of jewelry.

Larceny from Building, 200 blk. Garden Ct., between December 31 and January 13.  Unknown person(s) stole an assortment of checks.

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